They were seemingly bonded from the start, linked by their small-school affiliation as youngsters with the Trail Blazers, then later as part of a lethal fast break duo, so perhaps there was justice that the day before Jerome Kersey died he shared yet another bonding moment with Terry Porter.

"We just hugged and embraced each other,'' Porter said Thursday, wiping away tears.

And that's what these two were for each other - positive influences - who in turn had a positive impact on the tight-knit community that is the Blazers.

On their last day together, they poked fun at each other, they laughed, and as always seemed to happen when they got together, they reminisced.

"But the most important thing is, we talked about life,'' Porter said. "We talked about wives. Kids. About how getting old sucks.''

Then they hugged and went their separate ways. Their final words: "Take care of yourself."

"Thank God I had that day,'' Porter said.

What followed the next day was a blur. Porter remembers listening to a phone message while he was driving to pick up his son, Malcolm. There were the words "Jerome has passed."

He pulled over and called back.

"It was one of Jerome's close friends,'' Porter said. "He said, 'We lost Jerome.'''

How do you lose someone who was an extension of you? On the court, they were one. One of Porter's favorite possessions is the old black-and-white Nike poster entitled "Uh-Oh" which depicts a Blazers fast break. Porter has the ball in the background. Kersey is in the middle of the frame, heading up court, and Buck Williams is running in the foreground.

"One of the best posters ever made,'' Porter said. "Got all three signatures on it. And that's just the way I remember it - me with the ball, him filling the lane, going with unbelievable speed.

"And when he got the ball and finished, it was with force and determination. Nobody was going to get in the way,'' Porter said. "When he got to the basket, that rim was going to feel the pain.''

Off the court, Kersey was a confidant. They reunited late in their careers in San Antonio for the 1999-2000 season. And later, when Porter was head coach in Milwaukee, he hired Kersey as an assistant.

Both, of course, decided to settle down in Portland, and when Kersey married his longtime girlfriend Teri in September of 2013, Porter was there, with his arm around him. And at Blazers games, chances are if you saw one of the legends, the other was close behind.

So by the time Porter arrived to pick up his son Malcolm, he was a mess.

"Bawling like crazy when I picked him up,'' Porter said, the memory making him tear up again. "I just couldn't stop.''

His son soon understood the gravity of the moment. He came to know Kersey well in San Antonio, when the Porter's hosted him for dinners and Easter.

"He loved joking with the boys; they are very familiar with him,'' Porter said. "They know how close we were. We had a tough time riding home.''

The bond started when Porter was a rookie in 1985 from Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He gravitated toward Kersey, in his second year out of Longwood College in Virginia.

"I just think it all stemmed from us coming from smaller schools, being under appreciated, or under the radar in terms of a lot of people not giving us a chance,'' Porter said. "We talked about it ... I came in as a rookie, and we were sitting down in training camp and saying, 'We are going to show these big D-I players.' Coming from small schools, we were going to get them with hustle and hard work.''

They did just that, and one of the most glorious eras of Blazers basketball took root. By the time it was over, they had been to two NBA Finals, set the franchise record with 63 wins, and appeared in two iconic Blazers' music videos, Bust A Bucket and Rip City Rhapsody.

But just as lasting was a friendship, a bond, that neither thought would end so soon.

"It is so unreal to embrace somebody one day and get the call within 24 hours ... and he is gone. Gone,'' Porter said. "It's something you can't get your arms around.

"I guess sometimes there are no answers for why the good Lord called him,'' Porter said. "Maybe He is missing an energy guy on his team.''